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Extra Credit – BUILT TO SPILL VIDEO

A year and a half ago Doug Martsch played me his band’s most recent
album – “There Is No Enemy” and I loved it. It’s a great album for people who have ears on their heads. I immediately offered to Warner Brothers that I would make a commercial for it, but only if I got to spend my own money doing so. They went with their gut and said
“Uh…okay”. Within one week I had a first cut – a straightforward, 60 second, hard-driving sales tool. Warner’s loved it and wanted to send it out “as is”.
That’s when I pulled rank on them…
See, ever since I turned 37 I’ve always wanted to be a “Director”. But, unlike most
writer/actors I didn’t just want to be a “director”, I wanted to be
“taken seriously as a director”. To that end I was seen around town
wearing two monocles (never been done!) and eating only egg salad sandwiches – without the bread, spreading it on my hands and licking it off. I also had a rubber ball that my therapist gave me to bounce whenever anyone contradicted me, drowning out all argument. Suddenly I felt a strange stirring, and I knew I needed
re-shoots! Many, many re-shoots. I brought a gun to one of these “re-shoots” with the intention of waving it around and getting a “reputation” as “difficult”, the gun went off and I got a “reputation” as a “guy who kills people”. I got my face on the cover of cigar-sucker monthly. I joined the pyjama-of-the-month club at the urging of Julian Schnabel. Hiking alone in the desert I got my hand stuck between two rocks and I cut one of my
nuts off (I’m nearsighted!!). For my final piece-de-resistance I attended the Punxsatawny Film Festival and got into a “Hitlering” match with Lars von Trier. He won.

Finally, I finished – a nearly 6-minute commercial! It’s been a wild ride, but I’m happy with this celebration of Built-To-Spill’s awesome album “There Is No Enemy”, and I like to think that after all of that, I take myself a bit more seriously.